Apple's New Ad For Apple TV: 'The Kiss'
Following a great iPhone-Siri ad featuring the Cookie Monster, is this mediocre ad entitled ‘The Kiss’. I’m lost watching this. Although I recognised the actors, I don’t know what film is playing on the TV at the start. In my first viewing of this ad, I spent the 60 second running time simply confused about what was going on. Watching the ad again, I realised the man in the TV is the actor on the sofa. Maybe, I’m thick, but it wasn’t obvious to me. If you listen closely, the woman clarifies the situation in her dialogue so it isn’t implicit, more like obscure. In the hustle and bustle of a living room, there’s a good chance the basic plot would be lost.
I don’t really understand what the motivation is for the woman to bring up Game of Thrones (other than a fourth-wall nod that he happens to star in it). I suppose its for more inspiration about kissing methods, but as a snippet from the show is never shown, it feels extraneous. The man also randomly brings up Jeremih from Apple Music. Jeremiah is known for writing songs about love, but how does that tie back into two actors wanting to improve their technique?
The whole thing is forced and not genuine. Commercials are always exaggerations of reality, but this scenario would never happen in real life, not even close. Experienced actors don’t start browsing their past movie appearances in a trailer between takes. The concept is is too centred around the celebrity endorsement. This is a recurring issue for me with many ads that rely on the celebrity element. You have to be fans of the people being featured on screen to be engaged with it.
In general, I also believe that the scenario is too far-fetched for me to suspend disbelief and unnecessarily complicated. The Siri and Apple TV stuff is interweaved unnaturally into the conversation. The ending is weak, too, basically saying their previous minute of conversation was pointless. I would have preferred something more basic, with the actors mocking each other at their home. A living room setting is straightforward — the existence of the TV is implicitly justified.
Mileage will vary. I favour products over celebrities, but I acknowledge that celebrities do drive sales. Obviously, I would like this ad more if I had more connection to the people in it. I barely ‘know’ them. Nevertheless, following a string of good ads, I was disappointed by this one. If you swapped the actors out for two other non-famous people, it would be very dull.